30 Bond Building – Sydney, Australia

This was one of the first green rated buildings back in 2005.  Its most sustainable feature is the Chilled beam system for producing cool air.  90% of the cool air comes from it and 10% is fresh air.  The “wall” is a sandstone wall that was originally cut by the prisoners in Sydney’s jails but it is used to cool the atrium.  The cool air comes down and they have crea to a shorter wall on the bottom to catch the air and the recirculate into the system.  The floors in the atrium are heated (when needed) by tubing in the floor and the floors absorb heat in the summer which helps in keeping it cool.   Some of the interior features are bamboo flooring, Goat hair rugs, raised flooring, recycle bins in the kitchens, all green waste is taken offsite to a third party – Earthpower, they have a small rainwater tank but they don’t use it much, automatic louvers that are open in the morning and by 3pm they close to reduce heat and bright sunlight and a garden roof.

242 Pitt – 161 Castlereagh – Sydney, Australia

We met with the Development Manager Steven Nicole with Grocon – the largest private Development and Construction Company in Sydney.  This site had 4 existing buildings on it that were demolished of which they recycled 95% of the materials and 90% of the construction waste.  This new building will be a 50 level high-rise consisting of 58,000 sq. meters of space and 3000 sq. meters of retail. One of the buildings on the site was a registered heritage building; therefor they are building around it and will also make that building a greenstar building after renovation.  The newly constructed has a 5 star Green Rating and a 5 star NABERS rating for Design.  An interesting characteristic of the building’s design is that is does not cast any shadow on Hyde Park below it.  The council did not want the building to hamper any sunlight on the park.  Some of the sustainable features of the building will include: pumping outside/fresh air into the building, all light will be on timers, automatic blinds that track sunlight and reduce glare and solar heat, rainwater harvesting, reviewing vertical axis wind turbines-wind farms on the roof, and will be self-generating power with a 1200KW tri-generation plant that will produce enough excess heat to heat the hot water for the building.  Total estimated value at completion ~ $800 million.

Green Building Council – Sydney, Australia

Robin Mellon, Executive Director met with us and had a presentation especially prepared for us and was prominently displayed on the big screen.  His first and most important takeaway for us was he didn’t care what system some used as long as it was a tool that is relevant to your country.  Their mission is to: Rate, Educate and Advocate.  The GBC was formed in 2002, it’s a non-profit has 900 members and has a staff of 60 across the country.  They are working towards 5 goals: 1. Government leadership, 2. Making education and healthcare greener, 3. Concentrate on existing buildings, 4. wider focus from buildings to communities, 5. Embed green across industry.    They have 292 rated projects which will be 300 by the end of the week; they have 510 in progress and have more per capita than any other country of which office has the most at 185 certified buildings.  They have 9 rating categories: Management, IEQ, Energy, Transport, Water, Materials, Land use and energy, Emissions and Innovation.   The Star Ratings are 6 Star which is 75+ points and is considered a world rating, a 5 Star which is 60 points and is an Australia and a 4 Star is best in class.  They have a five star rating for their floor.  They import fresh air from the outside, use not hot water, use grey water for flushing toilets, the blinds automatically rise and lower for natural light, they use 60% less energy than their previous office space and have become accustomed to a wider temperature range in the office space.  They are practicing what they preach right down to a worm farm in the kitchen and a wastewater tank in the floor next to an executive’s office.  Awesome meeting.

Legacy Properties – Sydney, Australia

We fly half way around the world to visit with a guy from Fort Worth…really?  Yes, Armando arranged for us to visit with Legacy Property.  We arrive to a nondescript office but in a building nicely located in Darling Harbor. We were not sure we were on the right floor however, we knocked on the first door that looked as if there were occupants and we were greeted by a tall gentleman wearing cowboy boots and sporting a pair of really nice silver longhorn cuff links…we figured this must be the right place.  We were right; it was Mathew Hyder, the gentleman Armando had arranged for us to visit with.  We went through the normal handshakes but I noticed how intent he was to taking in each of our names, locking eyes and repeating our names after we introduced ourselves.  I was impressed he was able to recall our names later in the meeting but that were the least of my impressions.   Here’s a young, very well educated and experienced in real estate (who fell in love while in Australia on a study aboard program in College) immersing himself in the development business in Australia. Actually, I found our conversation with Mathew one of the best we had.  He gave us a background of his education and career to this point, talked about Development in Australia vs. in US specifically about acquisitions, approval process, design, valuations and tax.  He then wrapped it up with a discussion around Sustainable development namely BASIX for residential development, NABERS for commercial development and Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act 2010.   Some quick takeaways for me were: the acquisition process is 95% by auction not by private treaty; takes 3-4 years for a zoning change, councils have huge power; house are smaller but 2x as expensive; rental market is frowned upon and not much of it; cap rates are much more compressed here; a stamp duty every time a residence is sold; interest rates are higher and are variable and loan terms are much shorter.  Bottom line, I came away with a greater understanding of the real estate market in Sydney and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Mathew.    

One Central Park – Sydney Australia

On our way back from the Sustainable House we came upon the construction site for One Central Park, a Frasers Property.  The have world renowned architect Jean Nouval from France and will boast the world’s tallest vertical garden.  It is located on the southern edge of the CBD and is a $2 billion dollar village with a park at its heart.  There is a pretty cool feature suspended in the air over the lower building - a heliostat which at night transforms into an LED light show.   Nicola

Ericson, a sales executive for the property took the time to show us around the sales center which included one and two bedroom condos that were selling between $400,000 – $700,000 in which they have presold 380 of some 500 units.  The have incorporated many sustainable concepts and features throughout the complex.  One that stuck out for me was the water…they anticipate they will catch enough rainwater and will have enough excess gray water to supply the University across the street with water to flush the toilets with.  Another feature was the way the refrigerator was being ventilated which was how Michael Dobbs illustrated in his book, Sustainable House.

http://www.centralparksydney.com/

Visit to the Sustainable House and met the owner Michael Mobbs – Sydney, Australia

After our discussions of the remaining chapters of the book, we all headed off for a brisk 30 minute walk to the Sustainable House…dam, Dr. Forgey walks fast!!  Upon rounding the corner of the street the house is located on, Dr. Forgey challenges us to determine which house it is and frankly it was difficult to distinguish.  We all looked to the roof to see if we could see solar panels but to no avail.  We came upon Michael Mobbs sweeping the leaves from the front sidewalk and he greeted us with a pleasant G’day mates.  We all introduced ourselves outside and he started the tour outside showing us how he retrofitted the drain pipes off the building to catch the rain water, the invertor box outside that tie into the grid and a fuse box.  He invited us in and gave continued to talk about the features of the house.  We stopped in the kitchen and he demonstrated how his placement of clear glass louvered windows above the sink and light wood colored cabinets allows for maximum light throughout the day whether sunny or cloudy.  While continuing to share all his great stories, he took us to the back yard where there is a multitude of things going on, including his two “chook” friends that were not informed of the tour until he let them out of their cage which is directly outside the window above the sink (their chickens as we know them in the states).  He feeds them the scraps from the meals he prepares rather than creating trash. There is also a community garden in the streets which anyone can pick the fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices and is tended by the locals.  There is also a community composting area in the park that appears to be well received by the community.   He then demonstrated the filtering system on the rainwater downpipes.  Basically it is ball that floats to a certain level and until then it sends the dirty rain water to one area and then once the rain water has washed off the roof debris it goes into the drinking water underground tank.  He shared a lot his trials and tribulations of which we were very familiar with b/c he sites them in his book we just digested before we got there.  I could go on and on about the features of the house but if you are so inclined, you can get a copy of his book and go to his blog to find out more.  It definitely opens yours eyes to what can be done.  Michael Mobbs, a lawyer by trade has carved out a niche career consulting on Sustainability.   As the saying goes, “if you are doing something you are passionate about, you’ll never work a day in your life…it’s clear he is passionate about educating and living sustainability.  Great tour.

Powerhouse Museum – Sydney, Australia

Dr. Forgey bought all of us Michael Mobbs book, Sustainable House and assigned 2 chapters to each student to discuss prior to visiting the actual house.  Dr. Forgey arranged for us to visit the house despite it has been taken off the tour circuit since November of last year.  I requested the chapter on the Kitchen and the chapter on the Refrigerator…appropriately so with my insatiable desire to eat and drink.

After lunch in Chinatown, we strolled over to the Powerhouse Museum which has several exhibits, including a trip back to the 80’s with ABBA but we were there to see the “Ecologic – Creating a sustainable future” exhibit.  Among other things, the main thing we wanted to see was the “sustainable house” exhibit which displayed many of the features of the house.  Although we were getting a private tour of the actual house the next day, it served as another knowledge source prior to us visiting.  It’s amazing to see the public recognition this house has received and how it has inspired so many.

City Tour on our way to Powerhouse Museum – Sydney, Australia

On our way to the Powerhouse Museum, we walked through Hyde Park; walked into St. Mary’s Church where I was able to confess all my sins and be forgiven; entered Darling Harbor to get pictures of the Harbor Bridge and of course the Opera House.  We then headed over to the train and were entertained for a moment by some street vendors.  The train took us to the monorail which took us to the Paddys Market stop were the Museum and Chinatown were.  We had lunch in Chinatown at a restaurant with a lazy Susan in the middle of the table to eat family style…Dr. Forgey’s surrogate family!!

The Britomart – Auckland, NZ

Sara Ballantyne, Development Manager for Cooper and Company and Terry Buchan, Construction Manager for Hawkins Construction met us to tour the new buildings being constructed. The development is 5.8 hectors consisting of 17 heritage buildings with a 125 year ground lease.  They have 7 new buildings of which all are green star rated.  They were the first to have one of the heritage buildings to obtain the green star rating.  The East building will have a 5 Star rating when completed.  They also have a 1250 car park under construction called the Oriental carpark which is one of the largest in the Western hemisphere.  The building is built above the train station and actually floats above it with K-joints supporting it.  The east building has a wastewater tank system as well as catching rainwater off the building. Originally, there were plans for 14 luxury apartments on the top floors for a mere 3-4 million dollars ranging in size from 120 square meters to 160 square meters but they changed it back due to the world economic problems. Sara told us it costs 210 Million to build it with a total of 40,000 square meters of space.  The area is set up as a precinct which means they charge for rent, operating expenses, all precinct costs including valet, janitorial, security, etc..

The buildings first floor is retail and is 70% preleased and the office space is 100% preleased to Westpac (similar to Bank of America) 50%, Ernst and Young 30% and Southern Cross 20%.  It was pretty cool to tour the space and see where Westpac CEO’s office was and the views he had.  Also to walk the new E&Y space was a treat.  Very nice build outs in both areas.

A couple interesting notes to close with.  In the center of the buildings, the do not lease the airspace so when they built a couple connecting cross walks, the had to pay for the airspace.  Westpac had several of the floors cut out to create an open space for several floors and not only did the pay to to the work they also still pay for the square meters of floor space where there is no longer floor space.  Finally, when completed they will add 3000 people to the area for a total of 4500 people.

Hamilton Gardens – Hamilton, NZ

This is a public park owned by the people of Hamilton and managed by the Hamilton City Council.  It tells the story of gardens through 5 themed garden collections including The Paradise Garden, The Productive Garden, The Fantasy Garden, The Cultivar Garden and The Landscape Garden.  Hamilton Gardens is renowned as one of the 7 Gardens of the world that are a must see.  Of particular interest to us was the Productive Gardens representing different forms of productive gardening.  These plants not only provide us with food but also raw materials for clothing, shelter, medicine and many other needs.  This Garden included the Te Parapara – traditional Marori horticulture; The Kitchen Garden – displaying a range of European vegetables and fruits;  The Herb Garden – plants for culinary, cosmetic, perfume and medical purposes and finally the Sustainable Backyard – a small enclosed garden demonstrating principles of sustainable food production on a backyard scale. http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/

Pontoon Plane Ride – Rotorua, NZ (extracurricular)

After our visit to the Aquatic Center, we were dismissed to take time to read assigned articles, catch up on blogs or to do as we pleased. I originally headed out to ride motocross trails in the mountains however they had just closed when I got there.  When I returned, Vishal, Chance, Travis, Armando, Erin and I headed to the lakefront outside our hotel where I suggested we take a private plane to fly us over the volcano and other points of interest.  The next thing you know we were taking off from the water.   So what’s sustainable about that you ask?  As we flew over the mountain tops, one could not help but notice how uniformed the large pine trees were throughout the land.  I asked our friendly Kiwi pilot, Fred, what’s with the trees?  He informed us this area was the second largest man made forest in the world. Which that makes sense, with timber being one of the countries primary exports, the land is used to produce and harvest the timber and then replant what they take off to repeat the cycle again and again.  That’s the sustainable part, not to mention how cool all the other points of interest were…I leave those points to my classmates to comment on…I’m stealing the sustainable piece to standout so I can win the iTouch Dr. Forgey has for the best blog!!!    

The Aquatic Center - Rotorua, NZ

Well, I got to this meeting a few minutes late b/c I was tied up doing some things for my real job back in Canada but I did get there in time to hear about the center and tour through it.  The director of the center was who wanted to go about “doing the right thing” and voluntarily implemented all the programs they have for the sustainability accreditation, the “Qualmark” - “Enviro-Gold” and “Endorsed Visitor Activity” endorsements.  Additionally, from a water conservation perspective, in 2008 a water audit was done and the combined tradewaste and water by meter savings for a 3 month period from May-June was $5789.  Annual saving forecasted was a 24% reduction.  Further savings of $6211 was identified through leak detection and isolation totaling $12,194.  They actually charge people a fee if they do not take out their own rubbish.  They also have a recycling program in place.

From an energy savings perspective, all heating of the pool water, hot water, and complex is provided through geo-thermal.  This provides a considerable financial benefit in that there are no heating costs incurred.  There are however energy costs for pumping ventilation (running of the air handlers) and lighting.  Rotorua essentially sits atop a live volcano which obviously make good for the geo-thermal heating.  When you drive through town, there are all these pipes sticking out of the ground with stem coming out of them…my theory is so it doesn’t erupt.

Finally, she even showed us their employee vegetable garden and I ate one of the cherry tomatoes…rather tasty if I say so myself.

Ironbank – Auckland, NZ

Upon arrival no one was available to tour us through the project.  As most of us peeked through the windows and someone was calling the leasing agent, low and behold Vishal appears from the Indian restaurant in the project with the Indian owner and arranged for us to walk through it. If that wasn’t good enough, he also took us down to the parking area where there is a $15 million dollar automated, underground car stacking garage.  It had two bays that literally picked up the cars and took them away on a conveyor like system and stacked them underground.  Props to Metro for getting us the hook up!!  This was originally a $38 million dollar residential project that apparently didn’t fly so it is now office/retail I estimate is 30% occupied.  Apparently the owner developer is very picky about who they lease to and can apparently afford to be that picky.  Pretty cool building regardless of its first failure as residential and slow lease up as office/retail.  We patronized the restaurant afterwards for all his help.

Stanley Construction – Auckland, NZ

This was the first meeting of the trip and it definitely set the stage for our Study Tour.  Gary was a wealth of information and a pretty neat guy originally from the UK.   Stanley Construction is an 87 year old company with four business units: Construction, Eco-Build, Joinery, and Modular.  Their goal is to do $10 million in each business unit.

Some of the problems that developed from 1983-2006 was the timber used to build with was untreated which created issues with beetles eating up the wood and secondly was “leaky building syndrome” in which the buildings wood rotted and thus the building either had to be refurbished or demolished depending on how bad it was.  As a matter of fact, he shared a PowerPoint presentation where he was completing a job for the Waiheke Island Resort for several of their buildings that had the leaky building syndrome.  Ironically we were staying at that resort.  He indicated this was estimated to be a 12-22 billion dollar problem for New Zealand.  Some other things resulted from this as well.  They set up a ‘licensed builder fractional” which basically accredits builders and the gladding bailout package which was to help developers/builder with the repairing their buildings from the leaky building syndrome whereby if they put in 25%, the nation would put in 25% and they would give a 50% interest free loan.   The Lawyers didn’t particular care for it and would rather sue.  

Gary showed us another PowerPoint presentation where they were re-building a ski lodge and catshed that had been burned by a disgruntled employee.  He was discussing how they were building offsite and would then have helicopters fly it to the site and attached the panels/modular units.  The smaller helicopter was $3000 hour and the larger helicopter was $12,000 hour.  Another thing they were able to do was drag buildings and building materials up the ski slopes at night.  Another interesting point shared was the building codes stops at 2000 meters. 

New Zealand created a tax for companies with the highest CO2 emissions and the first industry they went after was Timber.  Gary said that just before the tax went into effect, the timber industry cut as many trees as they could and for a time you would see yards and yards of stacked timber.  Graham Hart owns most of the forest areas and is said to be a multi-billionaire.

Finally, Gary is very involved in the NZ Green Building Council which was born out Australia’s GBC.   They went from 0-300 members is less than 1 year.  They have since commissioned University of Auckland to help with the rating tools for the NZGBC.

Rise and shine

Headed out into Auckland for breakfast with Dr. Forgey and my classmates.

We have arrived in NZ

My private jet and a few of my classmates have arrived and are ready to do some research!

It's officially on!

Stay tuned for more great commentary.

Cheers

J2M

Finished studying at the library...next stop!

Cheers, J2M

For the record...

You may have to look closer but indeed that is the Library...Armando, Vishal and me are studying diligently while in Melbourne.

SHAC is in the House

Sustainable Habitat Challenge - www.shac.org.nz

SHAC challenges teams to build or retrofit a more sustainable house, building, office, classroom or community hall. Form a tertiary, industry, or community-led team, and work collaboratively, involve young people and communicate widely about your designs.

It is amazing to see how the people in NZ are building homes out of the earth.  Their walls are constructed of mud...well, mixed just right with a little cement and foliage for better support.  However, if not mixed just right, it doesn't hold up.  These mud huts are not what you think...when said and done, these are $100,000 homes. 

Another team built a relocatable, energy-efficient, one-bedroom unit out of recycled materials.

The Plant Room  - This is pretty cool.  You actually bolt on an extra room to the side of a high-rise apartment building as a garden area.   

Ok, we're really going places when one builds a high-spec straw bale eco home but obviously not mainstream and unlikely to ever be commercialized.

There are other examples of this type of sustainable building.  Check out the website and watch some of the videos.

J2M

Happy New Year!!!

Now this is how a real Study Tour is done!!!  Melbourne, Australia

Looks like Robin Mellon with GBCA will be confirmed Jan.12th @ 3pm

Robin Mellon - Executive Director Advocacy and International

Robin is GBCA's Executive Director for Advocacy and International. Robin originally joined the technical team as a Technical Manager, became Executive Director for Green Star in May 2008, and moved to the Advocacy and International role in July 2010.Robin was born and raised in London and after completing an honours degree in Valuation and Estate Management at Bristol, worked within the property sector around London specialising in heritage property and the environment. Always a passionate gardener, he then worked with a London-based landscape designer before moving to Sydney to undertake a Masters in Real Estate at UNSW, concentrating on sustainable development. After several years running a landscape management, horticulture and green keeping business around Sydney's Eastern suburbs, he joined the GBCA in January 2007.

Robin is currently steering the GBCA's Advocacy agenda at local, State and Territory, and Federal government levels, and organises the GBCA's Advocacy Committee in setting the strategic and advocacy goals for each quarter. Robin is leading the International work undertaken with other GBCs and affiliates world-wide, as Australia plays a key collaborative role with established GBCs such as the UK, US and emerging GBCs across Asia-Pacific. In addition, Robin mentors newly emerging organisations such as the Israel GBC.

He teaches Green Star courses around Australia, represents the GBCA on sustainability committees, and regularly presents at conferences to encourage the industry towards better practice. He brings to the GBCA a broad knowledge of the international property market, a passion for sustainability and extensive experience of working in landscape management within Australia.

http://www.gbca.org.au/

Tim Ellis with Cooper and Company CONFIRMED

Tim Ellis of Cooper and Company is arranging a tour of a new building under construction at the Britomart.  For those of you who don't know, Cooper and Company also own the Southlake Town Center.



http://www.cooperandcompany.org/index.php/about_us/

Britomart

A vibrant mixed-use precinct on Auckland’s waterfront, transforming 15 acres of heritage and regeneration sites in the heart of the CBD.
Visit http://www.britomart.org/

Jan. 6, 2011

4pm

The Britomart

Gary Caulfield with the Stanley Group CONFIRMED

Gary is an innovative thinker with more than 20 years’ experience in the construction sector. He is an active member of the Project Management Institute and a strong advocate for sustainability. Gary is one of a handful of people in New Zealand who have managed a project that has attained a Greenstar rating.   http://www.stanleygroup.co.nz/

Jan. 3, 2011 at 9am
21 Stanley Street
Auckland, NZ

Here are some links to what I am working on.

http://www.ignitearchitects.com/ 

http://www.ellerslie.co.nz/Home.aspx

http://www.stanleygroup.co.nz/page/136-ecobuild

http://www.britomart.org/

http://www.precision.com.au/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

http://www.gbca.org.au/about/the-team/

http://www.worldgbc.org/about-worldgbc/secretariat/65-jane-henley

http://www.nzgbc.org.nz/main/

Less than 9 days left before the "Down Under Tour" begins!!   New Years in Auzzsie Land...aka Melbourne...then to Auckland, New Zealand.

Stay tuned...same bat channel, same bat station.

G'day mates!